Oiii Living Rcsuurccs — Birds 



SI 



were delayed. For example, the ability to recog- 

 nize individuals based on methods that started 

 in 1982 (Table) allowed us to realize we had lost 

 five adult L'ondors (about 309f of the wild pop- 

 ulation! duruig winter 1984-85. Understanding 

 the critical nature of this loss ultimately led to 

 the decision to capture the remaining wild birds. 



As of January 1994 there were 66 birds, and 

 the future of the captive population appears 

 bright. The World Center for Birds of Prey in 

 Boise. Idaho, became the third captive site in 

 September 1993, joining the San Diego Wild 

 Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. The 

 George Miksch Avian Research Center in 

 Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is scheduled to become 

 the fourth captive breeding facility in 1994. We 

 expect all captive flocks to do well and contin- 

 ue to increase, providing young birds for release 

 in California as well as yet-to-be selected sites 

 in Arizona and New Mexico. 



Timely and accurate status and trends data 

 will continue to be important to the condor 

 recovery program as more birds are released. 

 Not only will these data be needed to monitor 

 the success of the release, but also they are 

 essential for identifying problems, which is 

 especially critical because no known or suspect- 

 ed mortality factors in Califomia have been sig- 

 nificantly reduced, much less eliminated. The 

 relocation of all released California condors to a 

 site near the Sisquoc Sanctuary after the death 

 of the fourth bird (three lost to powerline colli- 

 sions) reflects the close monitoring necessary ti) 

 ensure that appropriate actions can be taken as 

 quickly as possible. 



With the wild population consisting of only 

 nine young birds with a restricted range and still 

 dependent on artificial feeding stations, conven- 

 tional radiotelemetry and tagging have been 

 adequate. As the number of birds increase and 

 their teiritories expand, however, conventional 

 methods for monitoring and locating birds will 

 be unable to fulfill the recovery program's 

 needs. For the release program to succeed, we 

 will need to identify and remove or avoid key 

 mortality factors such as the powerline collision 

 hazard at the first site. To accomplish this, we 



. Kolord 1953 



Year 



will need to monitor and locate dozens of indi- 

 vidual condors scattered over a million or more 

 hectares. Equipment to do this exists but has not 

 been modified or adequately tested for use on 

 condors. Eventually a simple, inexpensive sur- 

 vey procedure will be needed to track the wild 

 condor population as it increases and starts 

 reproducing. Developing these procedures now 

 is essential. 



References 



Kolord. C.B. 1953. The California condor. National 



Audubon Society Res. Rep. 4. l.')4 pp. 

 Mallette, R.D.. and J.C. Bomeman. 1966. First cooperative 



survey of the Califomia condor California Fish and 



Game52:l8,'i-203. 

 Miller, A.H., I. McMillan, and E. McMillan. 1965. The cur- 

 rent status and welfai'e of the Califomia condor National 



Auduhon Society Res. Rep. 6. 61 pp. 

 Pattee. O.H.. and S.R. Wilbur. 1989. Turkey vulture and 



Califomia condor. Pages 61-65 in Proceedings of the 



Western Raptor Management Symposium and 



Workshop. National Wildlife Federation, Washington. 



DC. 320 pp. 

 Snyder, N.F.R., and E.V. Johnson. 1985. Photographic cen- 



susing of the 1982-1983 Califomia condor population. 



Condor 87:1-13. 

 Wilbur. S.R. 1978. The Califomia condor. 1966-76: a look 



at its past and future. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



North American Fauna 72. 136 pp. 

 Wilbur. S.R. 1980. Estimating the size and trend of the 



Califomia condor population, 1965-1978. Califomia 



Fish and Game 66:40-48. 



Figure. Estimates of the 

 Califomia condor population. 

 1945-82 (Snyder and Johnson 

 1985). Used with permission from 

 the Cc/k/o)-©. 



Califomia condors have a wingspan of about 3 m or 9 ft. 



For further information: 



Oliver H. Pattee 



National Biological Service 



Patu.xent Environmental Science 



Center 



1510AmencanHolly Dr 



Laurel, MD 20708 



